Middle Grade author Beth Anna Cook

Summer ILC, Week 1: What’s an ILC again? So many questions!

Two weeks ago I walked at graduation, but I have one more quarter left to go at Evergreen before I officially receive my BA! This last project is an 8-credit Individual Learning Contract (Evergreen-speak for doing whatever you want (with faculty support) and getting credit for it.) called A Novel Publication: Learning to Navigate the World of Professional Writing.

I’m trying not to get overwhelmed, but there’s so much to do, and all of it is new to me:

-How do I write a bio for this blog and professional profiles on AWP, PNWA, and SCBWI?

-How do I write an “artist’s statement”?

-How do I find other folks going to the PNWA conference?

-How do I find an agent, editor, and publishing house whose vision and values match up with my own?

-What do I do when formatting guidelines in one book contradict those in another book?

-If by some miracle my manuscript does get acquired, how polished does it have to be upon submission, since I’d keep working on it with an editor anyway?

-If submission guidelines ask for a separate synopsis, does that mean I shouldn’t include a summary in my query letter?

-When should I be working on what (finishing up the revision of the novel, composing letters, researching agents, browsing my local libraries and book stores to research the recent MG market, etc.) and how much of it needs to get done in the next 2 1/2 weeks before the conference?

-It’s 90 degrees—Why isn’t there more ice cream in this apartment??

What I need is a schedule. As previously stated, I work really well when I’ve got a schedule. But this time around I feel in need of assistance in creating this structure. Luckily, I work at a magical place full of super-helpful people who do just that sort of thing.